world of men's style / fashion / grooming

An UrbanDaddy Publication

And the real movers and shakers are building their brands from the ground up on sites like Kickstarter with the aid of dozens of venture-capitalist-minded menswear enthusiasts. So, in the event that you’d like to get a taste of the action...

Like most of EA’s stuff, the four different wallet designs were hatched in NYC and expertly crafted just a few blocks away—cut from leathers that are meant to get better with age... We could go on, but we have a feeling you’d rather see them for yourself:

Typically, one thinks of an heirloom only after it’s weathered a few generations, gathering its own uniquely handsome patina and lived-in warmth along the way. But before it got handed down to your father and his father and his father’s father, it started out shiny and new on some store shelf. And since there are still a few companies out there making stuff that looks timeless and will last longer than you, we’ve set out to find the new breed of future heirlooms in this weeklong series. Today we’re focusing on the little things, like cufflinks, a fountain pen, a signet ring and so on...

For the Rugged: The purveyors of hard-to-find craftsmanship-driven menswear at Bench & Loom are knocking 20% off jackets, coats and sweaters with the code SPRING20. Discount: B+ Sizes Available: A Selection: B+

There are a lot of wallets out there, but not many that will hold up to the rigors of carrying your various personal financial effects—while handsomely showing some well-earned wear over the years. This antiqued calf leather wallet from Chester Mox fits the bill. (And your billfolds.) Here’s what else you need to know about it.

The Story: A husband and wife whose family was in the wallet biz decided to update their offerings, including some handsome angle-cut wallets and using leather sourced from some of the finest Italian tanneries—including Ilcea’s antiqued calf, a favorite among high-end shoemakers.

In Other Words, This Is: The Italian bench-made double monks of bifold wallets.

Who to Channel: A man who carries cash and plastic neatly tucked into their own slots; a 1950s day trader; a guy with a really handsome wallet.

When to Use It: Now. Or, with the holidays around the corner, give it to some lucky giftee. Plus, they do laser-engraved monograms.

Rarely are all three of these things packed and ready to go when you are, thus the frantic scurrying, the mindless patting of pants that haven’t been worn since Easter, the “would you mind calling my phone,” followed by “I thought you said your phone was out of battery,” followed by blank stares as yet another movie night is ruined.

This iPhone 5 case/aged leather wallet from Portal may be just the type of all-or-nothing game changer your pocket organization system (dwindling movie date success rate) has been hoping for.

A good wallet is hard to find. Especially for summer (when you’ve shed your most pocketed layers).

You want to carry around the essentials (cash, ID, credit, a racy photo of your pen pal) without a Costanza-esque brick bulking up your pocket. Our friends at UrbanDaddy turned us on to this handsome Horween Chromexcel leather card case from Hellbrand—they strip away all the unnecessary flaps and folds, and leave you with a few slots for cards and enough room for a few folded bills in the middle. It’s even slim enough to slip into your front pocket without causing any noticeable breaks—and as rugged as your pair of Horween Chromexcel leather boots.

Today, our comrades over at UrbanDaddy hipped us to the launch of Stag’s webshop. For some time now, the Austin shop has been a staple for rough-and-tumble Texan dandies—trading in everything from chinos to blazers to one-off vintage finds. For the launch, they’ve focused on the clothes, but we’ve got it on high authority that the turquoise belt buckles and rattlesnake skins are not far behind. So keep your eyes peeled. And in the meantime...

We’re suckers for a well-planned combination of leather and wool—like this newly arrived Hard Graft card case. (See also: our gloves.) The whole item is about the size of your phone, but it’s thick enough to carry all the cards and cash you need, without giving in to bulging-wallet syndrome. Simplify, gentlemen.

We aren’t about to trade in our beloved leather tri-fold for it, but as a grace note for special occasions—possibly the same special occasions that find you wearing a tweed suit—it would be pretty fantastic.

Usually, when you read the word “accessories” on a blog like this one, it’s shorthand for watches, rings and other assorted baubles. So we thought we’d take a moment to recognize the king horse of accessories: the leather wallet.

It’s everything we’re looking for in an item: utilitarian, indestructible and more handsome with every year. This Moore & Giles tri-fold is a prime example, handsome as much for those hairline wrinkles as for the wax-treated leather. Hold onto it for a few decades and it’ll look even better.

It’s a good rule for anything you own, especially anything that happens to be made out of leather, metal or denim. If more gentlemen started treating their shoes like their wallets, we’d be living in a much more stylish world.

Jack Spade is hosting a 25% Off sale tomorrow and Saturday (use the code JACK25), and it gave us a quick reminder of how much we like some of the smaller items on the site. Case in point: this waxwear wallet. It’ll pick up well-earned wear marks as it ages, roughly the back-pocket equivalent of a signature.

The folks at Jack Spade just loosed their Spring/Summer ’11 lookbook on the world including a handsome trench coat and one amazingly loud wallet. This is real leather, with as many stamps as they could muster transferred on to the surface to catch your eye the next time you’re in danger of leaving it on the nightstand. And yes, they'll mail it to you.

There’s a small bundle of essentials you have to keep on your person at all times: keys, phone, wallet, compromising photo of a significant other, and so forth.

But in the interest of keeping your clothes as sleek as possible, you have to keep your bundle from getting too bulky. To that end, we thought we’d endorse this William Wallet from our old friends at Wintercheck. It keeps the bulk down to two strips of aluminum and a cord binding them together and strapping in your valuables.

It’s got just enough room for your cash and cards, and most importantly, it won’t interrupt the line of your jacket, which is more than can be said for your smartphone.